In Which Jeff and Annie Deal With Their Feelings
by mxchi
Summary: Jeff and Annie find some alone time and finally talk about their feelings.


**In Which Jeff and Annie Finally Deal With Their Feelings**

"Gooooood morning, Greendale!" The dean's voice blasts through the hall's speakers. "Today marks our college's twenty fifth anniversary, which means... Free cuts for all your classes!" Annie's face wrinkles in disgust.

"Jeff Winger, if you have nothing to do, feel free to come to my office," the dean winks though alone in the announcement room. "Have a great day, Greendale Humans!"

Annie, who has now entered the study group's room, rolled her eyes. Jeff was indifferent.

"Where's everybody?" Annie asks Jeff, her voice echoing at the absence of the others.

"Out? Guess they'd rather go home," he says, fixing his hair and admiring himself through a tiny mirror. Jeff's cool. And vain.

"So why are you still here?" Annie asks, blushing at the thought that maybe Jeff was waiting for her. She developed an infatuation for Jeff ever since their first _real_ kiss. That night, Jeff had two girls vying for his affections and approval, but Annie was the one he found at the end. Of course, Jeff told her it was a mistake. He was obviously scared. Annie was after all, a barely twenty year old, and he was, what, thirty three?

"I have nowhere better to go," he replies, disappointing Annie.

Annie sits down her usual place. "I can't believe they gave us free cuts. I think I'd rather study than..." her voice fades.

She'd rather study than be with cool, cynical, attractive Jeff Winger? Nah, she had to scratch that out. It was going to be a lie. She wanted to be with Jeff more than anything.

Jeff picked it up. "Than end up being stuck in a room with Jeff Winger."

Annie shivers at the realization of it. They were alone, together. They were almost never alone together.

"No, that's not what I was going to say," Annie defends herself.

"Come on, Annie. I know you. I've been there."

"Been where exactly?"

"Being infatuated with someone way older than you, it's silly. You've moved on and you're afraid that if we spend some more time together, your feelings'll come back."

"I'm not infatuated with you!" She couldn't believe Jeff's bluntness, even though his words were completely true. "And... and you're not _way_ older than me."

"You're a child, Annie." Jeff's words angers Annie.

"You know what, Jeff? I know you too. You're a coward. You're trying to get rid of me in the hopes of getting rid of your feelings for me." Jeff's face replies _that's ridiculous._ "You're scared to cross a non-existent—because I'm twenty—line, so you pretend you don't like me."

"Oh, I like you just fine."  
"And you're in love with me," They were talking so fast, Annie finds it an opportunity to steal the words out of his mouth.  
"And I'm in love with you."  
"AHA!" Annie shouts, as if they were playing a game and she had won.

Jeff was caught off guard. There was no way of erasing what he had just blurted out, no way of taking them back. He would've played it cool 'til Annie shut her mouth, but he had accidentally broken his facade. There's no way out now. _Holy crap. She got me,_ he thinks. By now he should've known he was never going to win if he underestimated her.

"I..." Jeff mumbles, so unlikely of him. "Fine. You want truth, here's the truth." Jeff leans forward, clasping his hands together. He was totally serious, for once.

"Whatever you want here, whatever _I_ want... It's wrong. You don't take action for something you know is wrong," he says. "You're a teenager!"

"I'm twenty!" Annie reiterates.

"Still!" Jeff fires back again.

There was nothing but absolute silence for the next minute. They just looked through each other's eyes. Annie breaks it off after a while.

"I get it," Annie claims. "You're not just scared of that. You're scared I'll ruin your reputation. You don't care about what having a relationship with me would be like. You care what others would think upon seeing you with a tiny girl who looks like a, a silly teenager!" Annie was standing up now.

Jeff's silence was becoming deafening. Where's the usual bantering, his side of the arguments?

Annie continues. "I have news for you, Jeff Winger. I'm not a teenager anymore, and as a matter of fact, I probably am the most mature person you'll ever encounter." She pauses for a bit, doubting her own words. "Or at least I'm more mature than you. At least I'm not afraid, not a coward. At least I don't care what other people think of me, not anymore, anyway. At least I know how to value the people that I love! You obviously don't have any of those concerns, and you know what? I wouldn't want a relationship with someone who cares more about how he'd look with a girl than how it would actually be like to be with someone he's in love with."

Annie storms out, leaving Jeff guilty, confused, etcetera, just as he was left in the men's room the first time Annie confronted him about his feelings.

_What just happened?_, they both think. It all happened too fast. Annie wishes she could take everything back, not knowing what it would be like now with Jeff. She values their friendship more than she could a possible relationship. But down in Jeff's mind, he's wishing he shouted back at her, at how wrong she was, and that all he's afraid of is the idea of a relationship. If Annie got one thing right, it's that he was a coward. _I should've just kissed her,_ he thinks. But what bothered him about that is that he wasn't thinking of doing it to shut her up, which is how it should be considering the scenario and, you know, Jeff's tendency to play with girls and to be his usual douche-y self. He was thinking of doing it because he wanted to do it. Because he wanted it to say the words he couldn't quite say.

"I'm sorry," Jeff hears Annie's voice from his back. _I'm going to eat my pride and admit that I'm wrong, just this once, _Annie thinks. _Little Annie can do that for her friend. She can accept that all this guy she's so madly in love with just wants is to be friends. Nothing more._ Her thoughts show in her eyes.

But it wasn't Jeff who was caught off guard now, it was her. Faster than the pace of their conversation, Jeff stands up, grabs her face, and kisses her lips for the third time since they met. This time was real. You can tell Jeff isn't going to say "It was a mistake," afterwards. You can tell it was him finally acting on his repressed feelings.


End file.
